Nik Rajkovic / news@whmi.com

President Donald Trump's executive order ending diversity, equity and inclusion practices has sparked confusion and debate, especially within Hartland Consolidated Schools.

The school board last year extended the district's consent agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice over racial accusations made by a former student.

"Our understanding at this point in time is we're waiting for legal counsel to work with DOJ to better understand where we are with the extended consent agreement, and what is no longer going to take place versus what we're still obligated to follow," Superintendent Chuck Hughes told WHMI News.

"The bottom line is I've never heard a single person say it's not our responsibility to make sure students don't haze, bully, discriminate or harass each other," he added. "We have always followed that under the 'three Rs' -- reason, respect and responsibility. We will continue to do that work, because it's the right thing to do."

In the meantime, a change was made to how parents choose to move forward with their student's participation.

"Some board members had indicated back when they passed the policy that anything we do that comes from this consent agreement, we would have to have an opt-in," said Hughes. "We felt that a parent needs to look at the materials and then decide do they want to opt-out."

A previous WHMI story on Hartland's consent decree, and President Trump's executive order are linked below.